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4.22 AVERAGE
4.22 AVERAGE
emotional
funny
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
funny
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Fox has been working at Hel’s tattoo studio for years, and when shop owner, mentor, and friend Tony passes, the shop is unexpectedly left to his daughter, Janie. Janie wants nothing to do with the shop; she has a tainted and tumultuous relationship with it for a few reasons and doesn’t want to be surrounded by those memories. But when Fox just expects her to sell Hel's to him because he thinks Janie is nothing more than a shallow, selfish influencer, Janie's bitterness, stubborn streak, and drive to get under Fox's skin mean she is more than ready to stay. Can these two learn to coexist, or will all that tension turn into chemistry they will struggle to deny?
My first book by this author, and I had a blast listening to it. I liked every character that was introduced. I loved the setting; the relationships and dynamics felt realistic between them, and the chemistry and tension were on point. I felt for Janie; she was a social media influencer with way too much pressure on her, and I thought the point about it being a beast of her own making and knowing that beast had to be fed daily for her survival and how she had to present herself exactly right or lose everything was important social commentary showcased through her character. The communication between the characters felt authentic. Yes, there were miscommunications at times, but that's life. Fox & Janie actually felt like a tangible couple because of those sometimes flawed actions.
I appreciate it when authors write characters that give representation to the disabled community (as long as it's done well and with respect etc), and it was great to have that diversity in this with Janie's character. The spice was on point, and hearing Sebastian York & Maxine Mitchell deliver some of the dialogue was delicious. They both gave fantastic performances throughout this audiobook and delivered on the emotional parts of this story as well as the snark and banter that at times had me chuckling out loud. The only reason this didn't get a full 5⭐️ from me is I needed just a smidge more in the way of feeling their romantic connection outside of the clear lust they had for each other for their love to feel truly believable for me. I will definitely be picking up book 2 at some point without question.🌶🌶🌶
"That Halloween, I went viral for dressing up like an Irish princess from a kid's movie. Once that hap pened, my social media persona, like Dad's shop, became another monster whose needs had to be fed be fore mine. What I wanted, liked, and disliked could no longer matter to me. No one wants an authentic you one hundred percent of the time, regardless of what is shown on the internet. Instead, you become entertainment to the viewers and fake to the real world. You are a puppet, and your viewers hold the strings. You will do what they ask; if you don't, you will become irrelevant."
"I know she overbooked me on purpose. She's trying to get me to slip, to crack, to turn away a client. It won't happen. I will die before one of my clients leaves here unsatisfied, which may very well happen today.
I nearly plow into the hellion on my way out of the bathroom. "Oh Fox! Perfect, I was looking for you! So I see you have about ten minutes between your last two clients; I got a call, and someone's coming in around that time for a consultation.' An image of me shoving her against the wall and snarling at her like a wild wolf flashes through my brain, and... what the shit? Am I...getting an erection? I could quite literally chop my dick off for this act of treason."
"Janie hasn't been at the shop for four days now. No calls, texts, pop-ins, nothing. It's been everything I've been praying for since the moment that psychotic brat with her annoyingly addictive smell, wild mane, and soft, freckled lips stormed in here and fucked my whole life up.
God, you're so pathetic.
She's ruined me."
"Who stupid?" I look up to see Stevie's old Croatian grandmother, Nika, standing at our table with a plate of cookies.
"Me," I sigh dramatically. "I allowed a man to have all the power over me, and now I'm ruined."
"Ahhh... Yes, very stupid."
"'Everyone leaves me, Fox. What makes you so different?" His warm, strong arms wrap around me and pull me into his chest as his mouth finds my ear.
"The difference," he whispers softly. "Is that I know that pain, and I know that fear. And I would die before I allowed someone else to feel it because of me. Especially you, Torch."
"The way she holds me is unlike anything I've ever felt. My whole life, I've been the strong one, the protector, the one that fixed everything. And when it came to women, there was no hugging or holding. I made sure they felt good and left satisfied, but above all, I made sure they left. This now, with Janie.. is something that I didn't realize I have been craving. And it's scaring the absolute fuck out of me."
"But even as I tell myself not to, I do fucking miss her. I miss her smell, her sarcasm, her snarky remarks. I miss her flipping her unmanageable curls out of her face a thousand times a day. I miss the way her eyes twinkle with mischief as she and I banter back and forth, and I fucking know she's about to hit me with a smart-ass remark."
"Fox,'" Janie smiles as they walk up to me. "This is my date, Luca." I stare as the man smiles and holds out his hand. For a second, I'm still trying to decide if I should shake his hand or deck him in the face.
Deciding calmer heads will prevail, I stick my hand into his, squeezing harder than necessary. "Nice to meet you,"' I state crisply, though in my head I am screaming. I will kill you and everything you hold dear."
My first book by this author, and I had a blast listening to it. I liked every character that was introduced. I loved the setting; the relationships and dynamics felt realistic between them, and the chemistry and tension were on point. I felt for Janie; she was a social media influencer with way too much pressure on her, and I thought the point about it being a beast of her own making and knowing that beast had to be fed daily for her survival and how she had to present herself exactly right or lose everything was important social commentary showcased through her character. The communication between the characters felt authentic. Yes, there were miscommunications at times, but that's life. Fox & Janie actually felt like a tangible couple because of those sometimes flawed actions.
I appreciate it when authors write characters that give representation to the disabled community (as long as it's done well and with respect etc), and it was great to have that diversity in this with Janie's character. The spice was on point, and hearing Sebastian York & Maxine Mitchell deliver some of the dialogue was delicious. They both gave fantastic performances throughout this audiobook and delivered on the emotional parts of this story as well as the snark and banter that at times had me chuckling out loud. The only reason this didn't get a full 5⭐️ from me is I needed just a smidge more in the way of feeling their romantic connection outside of the clear lust they had for each other for their love to feel truly believable for me. I will definitely be picking up book 2 at some point without question.🌶🌶🌶
"That Halloween, I went viral for dressing up like an Irish princess from a kid's movie. Once that hap pened, my social media persona, like Dad's shop, became another monster whose needs had to be fed be fore mine. What I wanted, liked, and disliked could no longer matter to me. No one wants an authentic you one hundred percent of the time, regardless of what is shown on the internet. Instead, you become entertainment to the viewers and fake to the real world. You are a puppet, and your viewers hold the strings. You will do what they ask; if you don't, you will become irrelevant."
"I know she overbooked me on purpose. She's trying to get me to slip, to crack, to turn away a client. It won't happen. I will die before one of my clients leaves here unsatisfied, which may very well happen today.
I nearly plow into the hellion on my way out of the bathroom. "Oh Fox! Perfect, I was looking for you! So I see you have about ten minutes between your last two clients; I got a call, and someone's coming in around that time for a consultation.' An image of me shoving her against the wall and snarling at her like a wild wolf flashes through my brain, and... what the shit? Am I...getting an erection? I could quite literally chop my dick off for this act of treason."
"Janie hasn't been at the shop for four days now. No calls, texts, pop-ins, nothing. It's been everything I've been praying for since the moment that psychotic brat with her annoyingly addictive smell, wild mane, and soft, freckled lips stormed in here and fucked my whole life up.
God, you're so pathetic.
She's ruined me."
"Who stupid?" I look up to see Stevie's old Croatian grandmother, Nika, standing at our table with a plate of cookies.
"Me," I sigh dramatically. "I allowed a man to have all the power over me, and now I'm ruined."
"Ahhh... Yes, very stupid."
"'Everyone leaves me, Fox. What makes you so different?" His warm, strong arms wrap around me and pull me into his chest as his mouth finds my ear.
"The difference," he whispers softly. "Is that I know that pain, and I know that fear. And I would die before I allowed someone else to feel it because of me. Especially you, Torch."
"The way she holds me is unlike anything I've ever felt. My whole life, I've been the strong one, the protector, the one that fixed everything. And when it came to women, there was no hugging or holding. I made sure they felt good and left satisfied, but above all, I made sure they left. This now, with Janie.. is something that I didn't realize I have been craving. And it's scaring the absolute fuck out of me."
"But even as I tell myself not to, I do fucking miss her. I miss her smell, her sarcasm, her snarky remarks. I miss her flipping her unmanageable curls out of her face a thousand times a day. I miss the way her eyes twinkle with mischief as she and I banter back and forth, and I fucking know she's about to hit me with a smart-ass remark."
"Fox,'" Janie smiles as they walk up to me. "This is my date, Luca." I stare as the man smiles and holds out his hand. For a second, I'm still trying to decide if I should shake his hand or deck him in the face.
Deciding calmer heads will prevail, I stick my hand into his, squeezing harder than necessary. "Nice to meet you,"' I state crisply, though in my head I am screaming. I will kill you and everything you hold dear."
emotional
hopeful
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I love the banter between Janie and Fox ! They made me laugh ! Their love hate then fall in love with eachother was perfect :)
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Love the representation of different body types and health disorders ( diabetes, essential tremors).
Some triggers of bullying, DV, parental abuse, death.
I love enemies to lovers when done right. There was a nice amount of anger, hatred, and tension before the explosion between our FMC Janie (Torch) and MMC Fox. They both lost their fathers figures (technically Janie’s actual dad) with both having very different relationships with the man (Tony). Janie really learns the hard way that her social media influencing lifestyle has left her extremely lonely and not able to live her life authentically. * I secretly hope there is some revenge in the series bc those assholes need to pay**. It is beautiful to see her open up and build solid friendships with solid people (including Ren, Stevie, and Summer). Not to mention what develops with ❤️ Fox and the boys at the shop.
Fox has had his own trauma due to an emotionally and physically abusive father, and the loss of his mother and sister. Ultimately he blames himself and has been beaten down to believe he cant love or be loved.
The banter is fun. The 🌶️🌶️ is nice. I will say Fox’s hot and cold behavior did give me whiplash at points. Also, the explanation of how social media influencing works made me chuckle. I happen to know all about it, but recognize that is not the case for all readers.
Felt beyond instalust - all of the relationships really deepened. And I would absolutely be interested in continuing on with the series.
Some triggers of bullying, DV, parental abuse, death.
I love enemies to lovers when done right. There was a nice amount of anger, hatred, and tension before the explosion between our FMC Janie (Torch) and MMC Fox. They both lost their fathers figures (technically Janie’s actual dad) with both having very different relationships with the man (Tony). Janie really learns the hard way that her social media influencing lifestyle has left her extremely lonely and not able to live her life authentically. * I secretly hope there is some revenge in the series bc those assholes need to pay**. It is beautiful to see her open up and build solid friendships with solid people (including Ren, Stevie, and Summer). Not to mention what develops with ❤️ Fox and the boys at the shop.
Fox has had his own trauma due to an emotionally and physically abusive father, and the loss of his mother and sister. Ultimately he blames himself and has been beaten down to believe he cant love or be loved.
The banter is fun. The 🌶️🌶️ is nice. I will say Fox’s hot and cold behavior did give me whiplash at points. Also, the explanation of how social media influencing works made me chuckle. I happen to know all about it, but recognize that is not the case for all readers.
Felt beyond instalust - all of the relationships really deepened. And I would absolutely be interested in continuing on with the series.
Honestly no chemistry between these two in my humble opinion idk this didn’t do anything for me and I really didn’t like the mmc. The fmc was more tolerable but still if it weren’t for the audiobook I’d have dnf’d
Absolutely devoured this book.
loved everything about this book the banter the chemistry everything
loved everything about this book the banter the chemistry everything
I’m not sure how I found this but I really enjoyed it. The enemies to lovers trope was strong with this one and that trope usually stresses me out because I hate people being mean.
At first I didn’t like the FMC because I thought she was a brainless influencer but that was explained in the first few chapters.
The back and forth, will they/won’t they, did get tiring BUT it worked because it wasn’t an insta love thing. It was a nice relationship.
Fox was great and it’s nice to read about an older man (since I’ve just hit my 40’s). I’d love to have a man like him!
At first I didn’t like the FMC because I thought she was a brainless influencer but that was explained in the first few chapters.
The back and forth, will they/won’t they, did get tiring BUT it worked because it wasn’t an insta love thing. It was a nice relationship.
Fox was great and it’s nice to read about an older man (since I’ve just hit my 40’s). I’d love to have a man like him!
emotional
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The audiobook is narrated in duet by Maxine Mitchell & Sebastian York.
It’s perfection. Maxine and Sebastian bring Janie and Fox to life with such natural chemistry and emotional depth, it’s exactly how I imagined them in my head. The banter, the sass, the raw inner thoughts—they nailed it.
Tropes:
✔️ Age gap (she 26 / he 43)
✔️ Father’s best friend
✔️ Enemies to lovers
✔️ Disability rep (Essential Tremor)
✔️ Found family
✔️ Tattoo shop drama
Spice 🌶️🌶️.5/5 overall because it’s a slow burn. But damn that man’s mouth.
Content warnings
Cheating (not between MCs)
Grief / death of a parent
Mentions of child abuse
Cyberbullying / online harassment
Domestic abuse (side character)
It’s a beautifully hilarious messy workplace romance steeped in angst, healing, grief, and just the right amount of chaos.
The found family dynamic at Hel’s Ink is the heart of it all. First the guys: Atlas, Ash, and Derek. And then the girls Stevie, Ren and Sunday 🥰
Can’t wait for their story! (literally because I am starting Atlas right away)
It’s perfection. Maxine and Sebastian bring Janie and Fox to life with such natural chemistry and emotional depth, it’s exactly how I imagined them in my head. The banter, the sass, the raw inner thoughts—they nailed it.
Tropes:
✔️ Age gap (she 26 / he 43)
✔️ Father’s best friend
✔️ Enemies to lovers
✔️ Disability rep (Essential Tremor)
✔️ Found family
✔️ Tattoo shop drama
Spice 🌶️🌶️.5/5 overall because it’s a slow burn. But damn that man’s mouth.
Content warnings
Cheating (not between MCs)
Grief / death of a parent
Mentions of child abuse
Cyberbullying / online harassment
Domestic abuse (side character)
It’s a beautifully hilarious messy workplace romance steeped in angst, healing, grief, and just the right amount of chaos.
The found family dynamic at Hel’s Ink is the heart of it all. First the guys: Atlas, Ash, and Derek. And then the girls Stevie, Ren and Sunday 🥰
Can’t wait for their story! (literally because I am starting Atlas right away)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Grief, Death of parent
Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Infidelity
Minor: Car accident